Rock Star
by Hottieluvr
Summary: Things just aren't right with him and Chloe. He finishes his tour at his home turf and as he comes out on stage he notices a very beautiful girl. After serenading her he wonders why he can't get her off of his mind.
1. Chapter 1

Just a reminder I don't own the characters or the show, just the words I write.

1.

"Mel, do you have the tickets?"

"Not yet, but my contact is at school so I will get them before the next class starts."

"Okay, I just can't believe that tonight we are going to see Eddie Duran in person."

"I know Lo, we need to get dressed at your place and make sure we get noticed."

"Yeah, okay, but I won't be in the kind of flash you like. It looks great on you but it just doesn't look right on me."

"Okay, okay. But I'm sure we can still find something fantastic for you to be noticed in."

The last bell had rung and Loren was practically running to her car to meet Mel.

"So?" she asked.

Mel raised the tickets up in front of Loren's face as she videotaped the look on her face.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it." Loren said as she jumped up and down.

"Come on, let's get moving. We have to get ready."

Nora just smiled as she could hear her daughter, Loren and her best friend Mel laughing and giggling while getting dressed. She was happy for her daughter getting to go to this concert. She remembered how she was when she got to see her favorite, Max and Katie Duran. The parents of the rock star that Loren was so infatuated with. She knew that both girls had worked very hard to get up the money to get the tickets. She watched as Mel came out of the bedroom in one of her fantastically bright outfits. She knew that Mel was the only person who could actually pull off some of the outfits she wore. They looked great on her. Then she looked up as her daughter walked into the room. She was in awe at how beautiful her daughter was.

"Wow, you two look amazing." she said to them.

"Do you think we will get noticed? Sometimes he pulls someone up on stage to serenade." Mel asked.

"I do believe you two will stand out." she said smiling at them.

"Okay, well we have to go mom. Love you."

"Love you too, have loads of fun."

"Thanks Ms. Tate."

"Thanks mom."

Loren was so ecstatic she felt like she could float to the front of the arena. As her and Mel gave their tickets to the ticket counter, the smile never left her face.  
"You two are good. Enjoy the show." he said as he waved them through.

"Come on Mel let's see how many spots there are for us to go to." As she looked she realized they would never get close enough.

"Hey, don't get discouraged. Come on." Mel said smiling.

Before Loren knew it Mel had elbowed and pushed through so many people and the two of them were now front and center. The biggest smile came on her face and she turned to hug her best friend. "Thank you Mel. I get to see him up close."

"Did you really think I was going to have us back there?" Mel said smugly.

"I guess not." Loren said smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Eddie was in his dressing room and he couldn't stop thinking about how Chloe seemed so off lately. He didn't know what was going on but he needed to find out. He had been contemplating asking her to be his wife, but lately it was as if she wasn't the Chloe he knew and loved. He heard a knock on the door.

"Jake, you know how I feel about having visitors when I'm getting ready for a concert." he hollered out.

"Does that include me?"

"Poppa Max is in the house." he said smiling and hugging his dad. "I missed you."

"I missed you too son. You look a little tired."  
"I don't know how you and mom did it. "

"It was tough but we had it each other."

"Yeah."  
"Hey, did Chloe ever make it on the tour?"

"Yeah,"

"What? You don't seem to thrilled."  
"I don't know. It's like she is a different person now."

"Is it her that is different or maybe you that has changed?" Max asked his son.

"To be honest, I don't know. I mean everything seems different now. Like she is hiding something from me. She never did explain to me about that missing period when I couldn't get in touch with her and it was so crazy on tour, we truly never had a chance to sit down and talk. But, well I don't know."  
"What?"

"Do you still have contact with Joe?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was wondering, well I don't know pops, what do you think I should do?"

"That depends Eddie."

"On what?"

"Are you getting serious?"  
"Well I was planning on asking her to marry me, but something just feels off about her now."  
"Then I will contact Joe."

"You think?"

"Yeah, it will put your mind at ease. Besides something in your gut is telling you to do this."

"Yeah, thanks pops."

"I'll get on it. But before I leave I want a hug from my super rock star." he said before bringing his son back into a hug. "Are you going to serenade anyone tonight?"

"I don't know. Do you think maybe that's why she has been off? Maybe she is jealous?"

"No, Chloe has always seem to me to be very sure of herself."

"Yeah, well I guess I better get ready."

"Break a leg." his pops said before leaving.

Eddie stood looking into his mirror and then thought about the last time his mom was there for him. He could picture her telling him how proud she was. He smiled as he looked at a picture of himself, his pops and his mom. He kissed his fingers and then placed it on the picture. "I love you mom."

The music started keying up and Eddie stood at the entrance of the platform as he said a silent prayer once again to his mom. Then he ran out on stage.

"Hello L.A." he said into the mike. "It is so good to be back home and finishing up this tour right here."

The crowd yelled and he looked out at the people.

As he scanned the people up close he stopped on one particular girl. She was so beautiful it almost made him gasp. He started into his song of "Something in the air" and as he glanced over he could see her smiling and singing the words to his song. He decided right then that she would be the one. He stopped the song. Everyone got quiet.

"Sorry guys. I usually choose one person to sing to on stage and I was so excited to be home I forgot. So I am going to bring her up and sing this song to her."

The crowd started screaming for his attention. He looked over and made eye contact with this beautiful girl and he realized seeing her eyes and her smiling at him she was even more beautiful. He walked towards the end of the stage and placed his hand out to her. She looked at him in disbelief. He watched as her friend pushed her towards the stage. She finally grabbed his hand and he helped her on stage.

"What's your name?" he asked in the mike.

"Loren."

"Hi Loren, so you can sit right here in this chair okay?"  
"Okay."

He then started singing the song to her and the crowd and he watched as she had the most beautiful blush come upon her cheeks. He literally had to drag his eyes away from her so the crowd would get his music also. As the song was coming to a close he was surprised to feel as if he didn't want to let her go. But he did grab her hand and squeeze lightly. He walked her to the steps to go down and he couldn't resist, so he kissed her cheek. "You're beautiful Loren." He whispered in her ear.

The rest of the concert he had to fight himself from just staring at her. The concert came to a close and he felt almost sad to see it end. He took one more quick glance back at her and went off the stage.

"Oh my God Loren. He noticed you. Eddie Duran noticed you."

"I know. I can't believe it. You know what he said when he walked me to the steps?"  
"What?"

"He said, "You are beautiful Loren."

They both jumped up and down. They were on a high of happiness as they made it back to the car.

"Hey, great show Eduardo."  
"Thanks." he said.

"What was that though with the serenade? It was like you couldn't take your eyes off of her."

"Did you see how beautiful she was?"

"Yeah, but you have beautiful women throwing themselves at you all the time. This seemed different."  
"Yeah, well it wasn't." Eddie said knowing in his heart he was lying.

"Okay, well remember we have that signing at the mall tomorrow so get some rest."

"Will do. But that's it for now right?"

"Yeah, I mean I could book you more if you want."  
"No Jake, I'm tired. I need to rest if you want me to start putting out new songs."

"Okay, okay. Great job once again. You blew it away." Jake said as he left.

Eddie turned around to look in the mirror once again. "What was that Eddie? You have never had your heart jump like that before and the electricity you felt as you touched her hand was amazing. It must have been the adrenaline." he said to himself. "Yeah, that's what it was." he packed up his gear and got into his limo. He wondered if Chloe would be at the penthouse.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

He walked into his penthouse and was surprised to find Chloe there. He really didn't think she would be since things have been so strange. But as she walked towards him he wondered if this was her way to get back to the way it was. She was in a very sexy negligee and he felt himself get turned on. She pulled him into her arms and kissed him passionately.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it to the concert, but I can make it up to you."

"Where did you go?"

"I had so many fittings tonight. My job is first thing in the morning. It had to be done tonight."  
"Oh, okay. Well then Ms. Carter, get to making it up to me then." he said smiling.

She slowly made it up to him and he was feeling sated. After showering they went to his couch and she lay her head in his lap and he pulled his laptop out to bring up his website. He usually got inspiration from his fans. He started reading some and saw one in particular that caught his attention. Someone by the twitter name of Love to Love you. He saw the poem this person wrote and he liked it immediately. He smiled to himself and then he thought back to Loren. The girl he serenaded. For some reason he felt uncomfortable when he looked down at Chloe as he thought about Loren. Then he wondered how he even remembered her name. There have been so many fans he serenaded and he couldn't tell you any of their names. He climbed behind Chloe as she lay sleeping on the couch and closed his eyes. He had to stop thinking of this girl.

"So did you have a blast at the concert?" Adrienna asked.

"Yeah, did you?" Melissa said.

"Yeah, your brother did good. I was so excited for Loren getting picked to be serenaded."

"Yeah, that was great. I got it all on my blog."  
"That's great. Well I best go. Tell Loren hi."

"I will Aid."

Melissa watched as her brothers girlfriend walked away. She was so glad that Phil's girl was sweet. There are a number of real bitches in this school and they are the ones he is usually attracted to. Well until Adrienna.

"Hey you." she heard.

Melissa turned around. "Hey, so what does it feel like this morning?

"What does what feel like?"

"The thought that last night you were sung to by no other then Eddie Duran. I swear one day you are going to marry that guy."

"Yeah right. But I do feel amazing today."

"Well I guess we better get to class."

"Yeah."

"Hey Pops."

"Eddie, what can I do you for?"

"I was thinking about last night."  
"Yeah, your concert was off the charts."

"No, I was thinking about what we talked about you know with Joe."  
"He's on it."

"Actually I decided against it. If I am going to marry Chloe I need to trust her and last night when I got home things were a lot better."

"Eddie."

"Seriously dad. I'm fine with things. Just tell him to stop."  
"If that's what you want."

"It is."

"Okay then."

After they hung up there was a knock on Max's door. Opening it there stood Joe.

"I have quite a bit Max."

"Um.. actually I just got off the phone with Eddie. He decided he didn't want to do this."

"Wait, I want to show you what I found out first."

"I guess it can't hurt. Alright sit down."

"When you called I immediately got to work. I found out some things that may or may not be something you know about."

"Okay."

"Well first off her name is not Chloe Carter. Her birth name is Cynthia Kowalski."

"Okay, well she could have changed it when she became a model. Cynthia Kowalski does not scream model."

"True and that's what I thought. But didn't you tell me that her parents were dead?"  
"Yeah, why."

"Well her father is deceased."

"And her mother?"

"Her mother lives in Fresno. She is getting ready to lose her house. She is broke."

"Alive?"  
"Yes."  
"Why would she say she was dead?"  
"I'm working on that. I did find out though that once upon a time her and Tyler Rourke were high school sweethearts."  
"Tyler Rourke?" Max said standing up and beginning to pace.

"Yeah. Once I found that out I decided to go to his place and see what I could find."

"Did you find out anything?"

"Not yet. But my guess is that Chloe and Tyler are still connected."

"Connected how?"

"I can find out if you want me to continue."

"Yes. Just don't tell Eddie unless we find out something negative okay?"  
"Okay. Well I guess I better get going then."  
"Thanks Joe."

Loren couldn't believe she was once again getting the chance to meet Eddie Duran in person. She was so happy when Aid told her about the signing. She managed to get someone to cover her shift and now here she was. It was her turn and she walked forward. She handed the CD to him without him looking up because his manager was busy talking to him. He asked her name and she replied Loren. Finally he looked up.

"Loren. Good to see you again." he said almost tongue tied. "What the hell" he thought to himself. He pulled the CD closer and began to write. He took a deep breath before looking back up at her and he could smell such a sweet soft fragrance and knew that it was coming from Loren. He handed the CD to her and managed to grab her hand once again. He squeezed lightly. "I hope to see you again soon." he said.

She was so excited she didn't even see what he wrote. She would look at it later. Right now she wanted to enjoy the light squeeze he gave her hand. 


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Eddie had just finished signing the last CD and he still couldn't get Loren out of his head. He felt so guilty about it. It should be Chloe he was thinking about not some stranger he just met. As he and Jake were walking to the limo Jake was telling him about this contest he wanted Eddie to do.

"So you want to have people send in songs that they wrote and the winner will have his or her song on my next album. Is that what you are saying?"  
"Yeah, what do you think? There are a lot of young talented song writers out there and this will give them the chance for exposure and it will also get you a song on your album."

"I think it's a great idea Jake. I like the idea of giving someone a chance at this. So what do we do now?"

"I will put it on your website and then your fans will send in a video of their song with them singing it. Not all will be able to sing but it will give us an idea of how they want the song to go. You will narrow it down to five and then from there they will meet at MK's and we will do a small concert with them and we will have two judges along with you and I and we will choose the winner. Once that is done the winner will have the opportunity to be at your video shoot and learn the ropes of what it all entails."  
"I wish I had thought of this." Eddie said smiling.

"Well that is what you have me for."

"Yeah and you are the best Jake. Thanks."

Loren was walking out of her last class of the day and she saw Melissa trying to patiently wait for her. She knew something was up because Mel was practically jumping in her pants.

"What is wrong with you?" Loren asked her smiling.

"You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Eddie Duran is having a song writing contest. Whoever wins it will get to meet him personally and the song will be on his album."  
"Wow, that's pretty cool."  
"Loren, you have to enter."  
"Me? No Mel. How could I enter something like that?"

"Loren, I've heard you sing in your bedroom. They are songs you wrote. They are amazing."  
"Yeah, and you are biased." Loren said before turning to open her locker.

"Seriously Lo, what can they do but say no you don't win. But you have the chance to do something you've dreamed of doing."

"Have you tried to do anything about what you have dreamed of doing?"

"Yes, yes I have. I want to be a videographer and you are going to help me when you become a rock star."

Loren looked at her best friend and knew she would do anything for her, but never once did she think she would truly win anything. But she thought to herself why not at least put it out there. "Okay, I will send in something but you will have to video it for me."  
"Of course. It will make me famous one day." she said smiling.

Loren rolled her eyes, "Yeah, okay when do you want to do this?"

"I think we need to do this today, when we get home."

"I don't have anything ready yet."

"Lo, I heard you the other day singing something and it sounded really good. Something about Mars."

"Yeah, but I'm not finished with it."

"Didn't you say that Eddie retweeted some of your lyrics already?"

"Yeah, but he thought it was a poem."

"Well let's show him it's not only a beautiful poem but a beautiful song." Mel said smiling.

As he walked into the penthouse he saw Chloe sitting at the piano looking at something.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I was just waiting on you and saw these print outs. Who is love to love you?"

"Some fan. Probably a toothless old man wanting to bring romance back to his life." Eddie said jokingly.

"No, I think it's a girl."

"Why would you say that?"

"I pulled up some of her friends and it just seemed like the person was a girl and it looks like she has a desperate crush on you."

"Oh stop. If so it is probably just a good fan. Besides I only want you to crush on me." he said bringing her in for a kiss.

"Well I don't like it. She could be a deranged fan. It could be dangerous."

"Chloe what's with you? I've never seen you like this."

"Do you know how hard it is to see so many girls wanting to be all over you?"

"You know that you are the only girl for me."

"I know, but I still don't like this and now you are going to have to work with whatever contest winner and that could be real dangerous."  
"I promise I will be fine." he said and she finally gave him a smile. "So what do you want to do tonight?"

"I was thinking maybe Rumor?"  
"Sounds good. Let me change and we will go."

"What do you have?"

"I thought I better let you see for yourself." Joe said before handing over a picture.

"Oh my God. She's messing around on Eddie."

"Yeah, I don't know for how long but I mean the guy she is with is the one I told you was her high school sweetheart. They also all worked on the same movie together "Summer Lovin" with Eddie."

"This is going to really mess Eddie up."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have to tell him. He was planning on asking her to marry him and I can't let that happen."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to continue to find out more."

"I'm on it." he said before he left the room.

Eddie pulled out his phone when he heard the ring tone he had for Jake.

"Hey what's up?"

"We are getting tons of songs in on the contest. I was hoping you might could come by here to help me narrow the field down."

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll be there soon."

"Okay see you soon."

"Chloe, I have to stop by the studio. Jake wants me to hear a couple of the songs for the contest."

"So it starts. I'm just going to go home. You go on."

"Don't get mad Chloe."

"I'm not. I'll be fine. I'm tired so I need to go to bed early tonight anyway."

"Okay, if you are sure."

"Yeah." she said pursing her lips angrily once she turned away from him.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

As soon as Chloe left she pulled her phone out. "Hey, can you come over tonight? No, he's going to be busy so we have the night to ourselves. Okay, see you soon." she said smiling.

Max went to Eddie's penthouse and he wasn't there. He called him but got his voice mail. He kept trying to think of where Eddie could be. He decided to check out Rumor and then the studio.

"Wow, there are a lot." Eddie said as he walked into Jakes office.

"Yeah, that's why I need your help. I thought we could start and maybe get some and if you don't have all of the top ten then we can maybe get someone to help us out."

"Sounds good. Let me have a stack." Eddie said.

Jake handed some over and then went back to listening. He was listening to one and it had a girl singing. She sounded a little scared but still good. The song itself was good and the lyrics flowed easily. He stopped and told Eddie to listen. As Eddie listened to it he started to smile.

"Wow, I really like that one. It feels strangely familiar."  
"What do you mean? Do you think she ripped off someones lyrics?"

"No, let me look at your computer real quick." Eddie pulled up his website. "It's her."

"Her who?"

"There has been a fan that has posted a poem on my website and these are the words."

"Well her name is Loren Tate."

"Loren?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh no reason." Eddie said but he felt his blood start pump faster. "So love to love you is actually Loren Tate."

"I guess. If that's the name she goes by on your website. So is she a keeper?"

"Yes. Definitely." Eddie said and couldn't help the smile that came on his face.

They listened for a few more hours and finally narrowed it down to ten.

"So I think you should email them a video of congratulations."

"Yeah, that would make it more personal. I like the way you think Jake."

He sat down in front of the computer and started doing just that. When he got to Loren's he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He couldn't wait to meet her once again. Once he was done he was getting ready to leave when his dad walked in.

"Eddie, finally I found you."

Eddie chuckled. "I didn't know I was lost pop."

"I really need to talk to you."

"Okay. Jake can we use your office?"

"Sure. Just lock up when you are done. I'm going home."

"Aright see you tomorrow."

After Jake left Max sat down in one of the chairs.

"Pop you are starting to make me nervous. What's going on?"

"Well remember when we decided to get Joe to do some work?"  
"Yeah, but we agreed to stop it."  
"Yeah, well I did but he already found out so much. I really think you should know what he found."  
"Pops, I decided to trust her."

"Eddie please."

"Okay pops, what do you have for me? Did she get some speeding tickets or something?"

"Here, it's all in here." Max said as he handed the paperwork to Eddie and at the bottom was a picture of Chloe making out heatedly with Tyler.

Eddie went through the first page and was already shocked at some of what he read. He proceeded to go through each and every page and then when he got to the picture he was shocked.

"She is fooling around on me with Tyler Rorke?"

"That's what I gathered. I guess they were high school sweethearts before."

"You know now that I think about it I bet they have always been together. She was basically using me. That's why it was so important for me to meet that movie producer with her. Why the hell couldn't I see this? I was completely fooled."

"You are in love. You didn't want to think of something like this."

"You know what, I think I need to go somewhere."  
"Where?"

"Chloe said she was tired and wanted to go home. But I think that was her way of making sure I didn't come over."

"Are you?"

"Yeah. This needs to end now."

"I'm going with you."  
"You don't need to do that pops."

"Yeah, I do."

They both got up and headed out.

Loren and Mel got back to her house and was in her bedroom talking. While sitting there Loren's computer beeped.

"You must have just gotten an email." Mel said.

"Yeah, let me see." Lo said as she opened her computer up. "Oh my God." she squealed out.

"What?"

Loren played the video email.

"Hi Loren, I want to welcome you to the finalist in my contest. I need you to come to the MK on Friday night at eight. There we will meet and everyone will have the chance to play their song and the judges will pick the winner. I look forward to seeing you."

"You made it to the finalist." Mel yelled out as she was jumping around the room.

"I did. Oh my, I did it." Loren said squealing loud herself.

Eddie opened the door quietly and he and his dad walked in. They could hear noise in the bedroom and Eddie asked for his dad to stay at the door as he went towards the bedroom. He rounded the corner and there was Chloe sucking hard on Tyler's cock.

"Wow, that's something she is real good at Tyler. I can easily verify that."

They both jumped up from the bed.

"Eddie." Chloe cried out.

"Save it Chloe. Thank God I never followed through on asking you to marry me. I don't know about you but I kind of want my spouse to be only with me and not to be shared."

"I can explain." Chloe said chasing after him as Eddie hurriedly walked to the front door.

As Chloe looked up to see Max there smirking. "I still don't see what had him going after you."

"Oh shut up you old fool. You never did like me."

"That is the truth." Max said as he turned and followed Eddie out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

Eddie was quiet riding back to his penthouse. "Are you okay son?"

"I will be."

"I know you are hurting. You loved her and I hate that you are going through this."

"Right now the biggest emotion I feel is how stupid I was for being fooled by her."

"Eddie, I think you started figuring things out though. That's why you wanted to do this in the first place."

"Yeah, and then I decided to drop it. How stupid could I be?"

"This is not on you. This is on Chloe. She is a master manipulator. She had everyone fooled."

"Yeah, everyone but you pops."

"You're my son Eddie. I am always going to be suspicious about people in your life until I know you are safe with them."

"Yeah, let's not talk about this anymore for now."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Did I tell you about the contest we are having. Jake thought it up and I think it's great."

"Yeah, you are having the finale at the club right?"

"Yes."

"Have you chosen the top ten yet?"

"Yeah, we did that tonight."

"So there were some good ones?"

"Yeah, especially one that I really liked." he said with a smile.

"Wow, I haven't seen that particular smile on your face in awhile." Max said.

"What do you mean?"

"It is the one you have of anticipation. Like how you were on Christmas morning when you were a kid, or the one when you did your first album.

"Yeah. I can't help it. This one that I think is the best well I found out after wards who it was."

"So you know this person?"

"Well not really, but remember when I told you about the fan who tweeted me a poem?"

"Yeah, you said it would make a great song."  
"She did. That was the song she sent in for the contest."

"She seems to have made an impression on you."

"She did and Pops she is so beautiful."

"Wait, how would you know she was beautiful?"  
"This is actually kind of funny, but at my last concert here she was the one I serenaded. At the time I had know idea who she was other than a very beautiful girl named Loren."

"Wow, that's a real coincidence."

"Right? I can't wait to officially meet her and maybe get to know her some."

"Eddie, please be careful. You just had your heart broken and well you don't need to jump into anything. You could easily break both of your hearts."

"Pops, it's not like that."

"I'm just saying Eddie. Give yourself some time with all of this okay?"

"I will. I will just be working with her if anything."

"Yeah, I don't know if you have ever been able to do anything like that with a beautiful woman in front of you."

Eddie chuckled. "Stop Pops, you make me sound so awful."

"No, I just know my son."

They finally arrived at the penthouse and at the door stood his best friend Ian.

"Ian, wow, good to see you man."  
"Good to be seen." he said laughing.

"Come on in."

"Eddie, I am going to take off now." Max said.

"Thanks for everything Pops."

"Anytime. Just be strong son."

"I will."

"Hey, what was all that about?" Ian asked Eddie so Eddie explained it all about Chloe.

"Tyler Rorke? He is like a canoe to your yacht."

"Thanks man. I think she has always been with him. She was just using me for access to movie directors and such."

"Are you sure? You guys always seemed to be perfect together."  
"Yeah, I thought so too. But I guess she was a better actress then I ever thought."

"Man, that sucks."

"Yeah, anyways, how long are you here for?"

"Two weeks this time, then I have a gig in Belgium for a week."

"You are going to stay here right?"

"If I'm still welcome."

"Of course."

"So let me put my bag down and you and I can go club crawling. I mean you don't have anyone holding you back anymore."

"That actually sounds good. I haven't done that in a very long while. But let's get something to eat first. We can do that at Rumor and go on from there"

"So I think you and I deserve a celebration of a nice dinner."

"What's the celebration for again?"

"For you becoming a finalist in the contest and for finally finishing up our classes of dual enrollment. I mean you make it seem so easy finishing up your high school courses and doing college classes too. But I find myself struggling every day."

"Mel, you do not. You love it as much as I do. But I do agree we should go and have a nice dinner."

"How about that restaurant that all the stars go to. "Rumor isn't it called?"  
"Yeah, okay let's do it." Loren said with a smile.

Eddie and Ian had just finished dinner and were heading out to bar crawl. Ian had forgotten his sunglasses on the table and told Eddie he would meet him at the limo.

He picked up his glasses and was hurriedly leaving the restaurant when he ran into someone.

"I'm so sorry." he started saying as he looked at the lady who had hit the floor.

"It's okay." she said softly.

"I was in a hurry and I should have looked where I was going. Are you sure you are okay?" Ian asked wanting to come up with some reason to continue to talk to this dark haired bombshell.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said with a smile as he helped her off the floor. He gasped for breath when he saw her smile.

"Mel, are you okay?" Loren asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine Lo. This gentlemen helped me up."

"Ian."

"Excuse me?" she said.

"My name is Ian."

"Melissa, but you can call me Mel, everyone does."


	7. Chapter 7

7.

"This is my best friend Lo."

"Nice to meet you Ian." she said smiling also.

"Hey, would you two care to enjoy a night on the town with my mate and I?"  
"We would love to but um.. we have other plans." Mel quickly spoke up and said.

"Well at least let me give you my number if you ever want to talk." Ian said wondering where the hell was he going with this. But the beautiful girl handed him her phone and he keyed his number in then called his phone.

"This way I have yours also, I mean if that's okay."

"And if not?" Mel asked flirting with him.

"I can delete it right now if you want me to, but I really hope you don't."  
"That's fine. Now you have my number also."

"Okay, then I'll hopefully get to see you another time."

"Sure."

Ian then turned and walked towards the exit, but before he got there he turned to look at her once more."Damn, that is one gorgeous woman." he said to himself.

"Hey man, what took you so long?" Eddie asked Ian when he got into the limo.

"I just met the most beautiful woman these tired eyes has ever seen."

"What? You take pictures of beautiful woman every day."  
"Yeah, and she easily topped them all."

"Damn, why didn't you ask her to come?"

"I did, her and her friend but they said they couldn't tonight. They had other plans."

"She had a friend with her? What did she look like?"

"I don't know. I couldn't take my eyes off of Melissa."

"Melissa?"  
"Yeah, her name. Her friend's name was Lo."

"So you remember her name but not what she looked like." Eddie said laughing. "And what kind of name is Lo?"

"I think it was a nickname. Melissa told me to call her Mel and that's what her friend called her when I was helping her off the floor."

"Wait, I think you missed something in this story. Why were you helping her off the floor."

After Ian finished telling Eddie what happened Eddie started laughing harder.

"So you're telling me that you knocked over what you say is the most beautiful woman you ever lay eyes on?"  
"Yeah, um.. that's correct."

"Only you Ian, only you."

They finished talking when they pulled up to the first club.

"Wow." Mel said to Loren as she watched the sexiest man she ever saw before walk away. When she seen him turn back to look back at her, she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Wow is all you say. That cute guy was super enthralled with you Mel."

"Do you think?"

"UH.. yeah." Loren said laughing. "Let's get a table I'm starved."

They followed the hostess to a table and they proceeded to look at the menu so they could order.

The next morning when Ian came down the stairs he saw Eddie hard at work at the piano.

"You are up early mate."

"Yeah, I had a really great idea for a song and I had to work on it before I lost the idea."

"So does your head hurt as mine bloody well does?"

Eddie laughed. "It did, but not anymore. There's some pain reliever next to the coffee pot."

"Thanks." Ian said as he walked into the kitchen.

Ian walked back into the room with a cup of coffee.

"So are you going to call her?"  
"Who?" Ian asked.

"Do you not remember last night?"  
"Oh you mean Mel?"

Eddie chuckled "Yeah, Mel. Are you going to call her?"

"I will but not yet. I guess I'm a little nervous. What if she is not interested?"

"She wouldn't have let you have her number."

"I will, but right now I am here for you man. What are you doing today?"

"Well actually I am going to be at MK tonight. The contest is there and I'm super excited."

"Because of this girl you were talking about?"

"That and well I just want to move on and get my life together."

"Mate don't let Chloe get into your head like that."

"I'm not but we just broke up and I just want to play it safe for a moment."

"Okay, I get it. So do you mind if maybe I invite Mel to the concert tonight?"

"No, that will be perfect. It's going to be a great evening and I will get to see this great beauty."

"Lo, are you up?" Mel asked walking into Loren's bedroom.

"Yeah. I'm just sitting here trying to figure out what to wear. I'm so nervous Mel. I am going to be meeting Eddie Duran and actually talking to him."  
"You already met him."  
"No, He chose me to serenade to and that was an act Mel. He does that at all of his concerts. We didn't even talk."

"Yeah, well he did talk to you remember? He told you that you were beautiful."

"Something else I am sure he tells all the girls he sings to."

"Hey, you are beautiful and now he is also going to find out that you are talented. I have always told you that you were but maybe you will believe it once he does."

"Let's just find me an outfit okay?"

"Alright. I can do that."

"Remember not flashy." Loren said with a smile. About that time Mel's phone rang.

"You got Mel." she answered.

"Hi Mel. This is Ian."

"Oh hi Ian. I was wondering if you would really call."

"I said I would, anyways I was calling to ask if you would like to go to a concert this evening. My friend's dad owns this place called the MK and they are having a singing/song writing contest and I would like you to be my date."

Mel was surprised but asked him to hold for a second. When she put him on hold she explained to Loren what he asked.

"So I wonder who is friend is?" Loren asked.

"I don't know but do you think I should tell him I am going to be there anyways?"

"No, let this be your safe date. I will be there and this way he will take you and we will know if he is an alright guy."

"You're right."

"Ian, I would love to go."  
"Great. If you text me your address I will pick you up at 8."

"Okay then. See you then." she said before hanging up.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

Eddie and Ian were getting ready to leave when they heard a knock on the door.

"What the bloody hell are you here for?" Ian asked.

"I am here to see Eddie."

"Well I don't think he wants to see you."

"Who is it Ian?"

"It's me." Chloe called out.

"Why are you here?" Eddie asked walking towards her.

"I need to explain Eddie. It wasn't what you think."

"You are unbelievable. It was exactly what I thought and there is no need for an explanation Chloe. I am not the stupid fool you tried to play me for. So just get out of my place and don't come back." Eddie said angrily as he escorted her by the elbow to his door.

"Eddie." Chloe said trying to wrap her arms around him.

He untangled from her and led her out. "Goodbye Chloe or should I say Cynthia. Say hello to Tyler for me."

"You okay man?"  
"Yeah. Let's just go. I think though we will have to go the back way."

"You look so beautiful Lo."

"Only because you did this for me. Thank you."  
"Your welcome, so do I look okay?"

"There are no words Mel. Beyond beautiful is all I can say. Have fun tonight with Ian."

"I hope to."

Loren hugged her and then got into her car to leave just as a limousine was pulling up. She watched as Ian got out and walked to the door for Mel and she was happy to see this guy was making an impression on her best friend.

"You look beautiful Mel." Ian said as he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Thank you. You didn't have to rent a limousine."

"I actually didn't. It belongs to a friend of mine."

"Oh, well you must have interesting friends."

"Yeah." he said while escorting her to the car. They climbed in and began to talk. Getting to know each other. Mel couldn't believe the butterflies flying around in her stomach. She liked it. When they got to the club and he took her hand to help her out she felt the electricity shoot up her arm. He must have felt the same because she heard him slightly gasp.

As soon as they got inside he brought her to their seat. It was close to the stage so they wouldn't miss anything. Mel was really happy about that. Ian asked her what she wanted to drink and she said, she couldn't have anything since she wasn't twenty one yet.

"I think we could probably get you a glass of wine. You don't look younger then 21."

She started laughing. "You are not suppose to say that."

He laughed now too. "What I mean is..."  
"That's okay. Yes, a glass of white wine sounds great."

He left to get the drinks but also because he really needed to talk to his best mate.

"Hey, so where is this beautiful lady?" Eddie asked as he saw Ian walk up. Ian turned and pointed towards the booth. "I don't know what's happening man."

"What do you mean Ian?"

"When I helped her out of the limo there were like shock waves shooting up my arm."  
"I know what you mean. I felt that when I helped Loren on to the stage at my concert."

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know. Just enjoy yourself."

"Yeah, but I just found out she isn't 21."  
"How old is she?"

"She said she is almost 19. That's not too young is it?"

"Ian, you are only just 21 so no it's not too young. Besides you aren't asking her to marry you are you?"

"No, I guess you are right. Well I better get back to her."  
"Have fun." Eddie called out.

Loren was so nervous. She couldn't stop pacing in the waiting room with all the other acts. She watched as one by one they were called to do their songs. Then finally she heard her name called and a young woman came and escorted her out to the stage. She grabbed her guitar that they had standing by the stage before she walked out. She walked up to the mike and everyone got quiet. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was just singing in her room staring at her favorite Eddie Duran poster and she started to sing. When the song was done she heard the applause but the one voice she heard the most was her best friend Mel. She looked over at her and smiled. Mel, wearing the vibrant color of hot pink and neon green, looked so happy and this brought tears to Loren's eyes. She bowed and then walked back to the waiting room. They were told to wait there and then they would bring them all out for the decision.

"You really seem to like the last girl." Ian said to Mel.

"Yeah, I thought she was the best."

"I have to say that I totally agree with you."

Mel couldn't help but smile. She felt bad not telling him who that girl was but a part of her was afraid it would somehow jinx Loren.

"Oh here the judges come now. I guess we will soon find out." Ian said smiling.

"So we have all the participants of the contest right here. I want to thank each and every one of you. I would be honored to work with any one of you. You were all so good. But we had to narrow it down to one. I am super excited to be working with this person. The winner of the first Eddie Duran contest is Loren Tate." Eddie said smiling at her.

Everyone was applauding and she was so excited. She never thought that she would be the one they picked. Everything started going around in her head and before she knew it everything went black.

Mel was jumping up and down and then she saw Loren faint. She had to go to her. She ran up to the stage as Eddie was holding her and starting to carry her to a couch away from everybody.

"Lo, are you okay. Wake up girl." Mel was saying.

"Do you know her?"  
"Yes, she is my best friend."

Eddie and Ian looked at each other in confusion.

"I think the excitement of winning and the thought of finally getting to talk to you overwhelmed her."

Eddie smiled at Mel. "Well I hope she wakes up soon."

"Yeah, me too."

They placed a wet wash cloth on her forehead and she started to slowly come around.

"Mel, am I dreaming?"  
"No, girl. Didn't I tell you how talented you are?"


End file.
